Hormone Harmony: Balancing Thyroid, Adrenals and Sex Hormones

Tag Archives: adrenal

As many of you already know, I have followed a gluten free diet for six years (for health reasons including my thyroid, etc.). My most recent blood work shows on ongoing battle with intestinal inflammation (aka Leaky Gut Syndrome) Not good. I feel no symptoms of this which is what makes it so dangerous. Inflammation has been called the “Silent Killer” by many.

Recently, a fellow celiac/gluten intolerant friend sent me an article from The University of Chicago. This institution has one of the leading treatment and research centers for Celiac Disease in the U.S., so my jaw dropped when they posted this:

“While healing may take up to 2 years for many older adults, new research shows that the small intestines of up to 60% of adults never completely heal.”

So I dug my heels in, like I do with most things, and began researching my butt off about how to heal the leaky gut. I already follow a strict gluten free diet and I am eliminating dairy. So what else am I supposed to do? According to Chris Kesser, a leading doctor of naturopath:

1) Supplement for nutritional deficiencies.

2) Take a probiotic every day

3) Take a digestive enzyme every day

Why am I telling you this? Because you may have been seeing (and annoyed by) my posts and decision to sell Plexus products. What you may not know is that for 2 years now I have been counseling numerous people about thyroid/adrenal/hormonal conditions. I spent 5 devastating years screaming at every doctor I could find that something was wrong with me. I am pretty sure most doctors thought I was a hypochondriac. All suggested anti-depressants. I took them. I didn’t get better. What were my symptoms?

*Debilitating fatigue

*Wide-spread muscle pain

*Shortness of breath/Air hunger

*Heart palpitations that were awful

*Insomnia

*Infertility/multiple miscarriages

*Being extremely startled by loud noises

*Weight gain

*Chronic jaw pain

*Inability to exercise – Because if I did, it took days/weeks to recover (exercise intolerance)

*Depression and anxiety

*A chronic battle with iritis (eye inflammation. Very painful)

Nobody had an answer for me. I saw a rheumatologist who wasn’t helpful. My family doctor (who is fabulous!) was willing to test my thyroid and adrenals. He agreed to try Synthroid for my thyroid, but it didn’t help.

In desperation I began researching and also seeing an Integrative Medicine doctor. That was helpful and difficult because it is INSANELY expensive (they don’t take insurance) and although a lot of the supplements were helpful, I have been swallowing 20 pills per day and spending even more money for stuff that I wasn’t sure was really working.

After I had Loralei in October of 2011 my world began to spin completely out of control. I was diagnosed with post-partum depression. I was placed on anti-depressants and anti-anxiety meds. The A-D made me clench my teeth so I had to stop taking it. I tried to treat it naturally. This went on for almost 18 months. I was a shell of my former self. I was suffering from chronic dizziness/vertigo. I have mentioned previously that I had to undergo an MRI and was placed on 60 MG of Prednisone (that’s 500 times more that your body makes on its own). The result of that forced me into having take an anti-depressant and allowed me to begin putting my life back together. That brings me to where I am today. Feeling better than I have in a LONG time, but coming to the realization that until I heal my gut I will not get to 100%.

If you’re still reading (amazingly) this post started by talking about Leaky Gut. I have been dealing with the symptoms of Leaky Gut and I think that is why I am not at 100% yet. I don’t think most people realize how devastating Leaky Gut o yeast overgrowth can be to someone’s immune system. I watched a portion of the show “The Doctors” the other day and they were highlighting the latest treatment for C-Diff that is now being used to heal the guts of celiac patients as well. It’s called a Fecal Transplant. Yes, you read that right. Someone with a healthy gut donates their stool and then it is injected into the gut of the unhealthy individual. O.M.G. (if you don’t believe me just google it) This procedure is so cutting edge and so successful. That means it is also expensive. You Tube is full of videos on DIY versions involving your husbands poop, a blender and an enema kit. (Again, if you don’t believe me ….)

If you aren’t down with a Fecal Transplant the other alternative is taking heavy doses of an anti-fungal called Nystatin, which is effective, but has some nasty side effects. What is point in this??? It is that if you want to get healthy you HAVE to heal your gut! period.

So this is the journey I am embarking on … (no, not a fecal transplant). I am going to attempt to heal my gut by the most natural means. That means I am going Paleo (for the reals) and will be incorporating things like bone broths into my diet. I will also be using the Plexus products I have already been taking.

I chose to take (and sell) Plexus because of the Probio5. It basically replaced three bottles of supplements I was already taking (digestive enzymes, probiotic and antifungal) because it contains all of them in one pill and cost me half as much as I spent on all three. No brainer. I also found out I had a major issue with candida/yeast that I was not aware of. And candida/yeast is a symptom of leaky gut and can prevent weight loss. It all comes full circle. It is all tied together.

I have never done an MLM before and I swore that I never would. But since I was taking the product anyway I decided to sell it because I do see the potential for supplemental income. However, this is my predicament. A good friend told me once that it’s hard to sell anything with a pure heart because your bottom line is connected to it. That has always resonated with me. Through a lot of discussions with Michael and some prayer I decided to give it a shot, and this is why: I have spent countless hours counseling other people who have been battling issues similar to mine. I have found them doctors who will work with them, directed them to the specific blood tests to ask for, told them about supplements to take, discussed symptoms and pointed them towards a diagnosis, and on and on. So if I am taking something that has helped me, why would I keep that a secret from them? I had my answer.

I am passionate about women’s health issues. I love to research and learn and teach others about it. I love being told that I changed someone’s life. And it breaks my heart to hear people say, “Why did my doctor never tell me about this?” I wish I had an answer for that one.

So, if you want to learn more about Plexus, please feel free to contact me. If you are annoyed by my occasional posts to FB or Instagram, don’t de-friend me. I am not going to be the person selling something that you duck and avoid at the grocery store. It won’t hurt my feelings if you say NO. I just wanted to take this opportunity to share my story so you could understand why I am doing this.

**And if you are one of the peeps whom I have helped with health issues, please comment here so people know I am legit!!! 😉

If you follow me on Facebook then you have probably seen posts popping up about a product called Plexus. If you are like me (up until a few months ago anyway) then you probably have not even heard of it. I first learned about it through a friend on Facebook who had had success losing some weight. Intrigued and suspicious, I decided to start doing some research. If you know me well, then you know that I am a big time researcher/user of the Google machine! What I began to find out about it ended up being life changing

I have been wanting, but waiting to put my thoughts about this into words … And I find it appropriate that I am penning this on the day of my son’s sixth birthday because that is really where my journey began. Until I had E my weight had never really been an issue. I had always been on the smaller side and didn’t have to do much to maintain it. However, weight had always been a HUGE issue for me in the sense that I struggled with low self esteem if I gained any weight. I found my worth in my thinness. After struggling with 5+ years of infertility I was so grateful to be pregnant that I gave no thought to what I ate while I was pregnant. I was fat and happy. I also assumed that as long as I breastfed the weight would come off. It didn’t. I held onto about 15 lbs that would not budge. Additionally and more concerning was the fact that my overall health seemed to be declining. I was chronically exhausted (chalked that up to being sleep deprived), my muscles ached all over and seemed to be full of knots, my teeth hurt from clenching my teeth, and my left eye suffered chronic inflammation that resulted in a painful condition known as iritis. The only treatment for the iritis was a protocol of steroid eye drops that had to be placed in my eye multiple times per day. Even scarier was this conditions association with auto-immune diseases systemically attacking the body. Thus began the never ending search for a “cure” or a “cause” that had me bouncing between doctors and specialists. Whether it was this experience or other factors, I also feel into a pretty deep depression.

In late 2010, I finally in complete desperation found a naturopathic nurse practitioner who said she could help. She switched me off of synthetic thyroid meds (Synthroid) and started me on some protocols to treat adrenals and low progesterone. I was pregnant (unintentionally) within three months and felt better than I had in years! I really thought that we had gotten to the bottom of the issue and felt confident going into delivering my daughter. But the fear of the past lurked in shadows and waited for the right moment to pounce. As proactive as I was around 4 months post partum the bottom dropped out and I went into the deepest and darkest place I had ever been. Depression, heart palpitations, anxiety, insomnia, muscle pain, dizziness and the list went on and on. Convinced that it had to be thyroid and adrenal related again, I immersed myself in research. The problem was my labs all looked good and the naturopath was stumped. Crazed with info and fueled with desperation I spiraled further and further down, circling the drain. I vividly remember sobbing so hard one day that I had to pull the car over. Little L was in the backseat, unphased because she had seen me sob so often. No one really knew how dark my life was, not even me.

In November 2012, the dizziness was so bad that my family doctor sent me to an ENT. Unable to determine the cause he ordered an MRI of my brain and suspecting inner ear inflammation, placed me on 60 mg of prednisone. I didn’t think it could get worse, but it did. A certain doctor later likened taking prednisone to jumping on a trampoline with a 2×4 full of nails, and I am inclined to agree. . My husband came home from work one night to find me on the floor in our closet. I begged him to check me into the Pavillion (mental hospital). It was bad. He insisted upon a regimen of anti-depressants and because all other options had failed I relented. And honestly, that was a good choice. It was a necessary intervention at that point. The lights began to flicker amidst the darkness. I still knew intuitively, that something was not right!

I had done enough “research” that I had diagnosed myself as being adrenal insufficient/low cortisol. My symptoms were so similar to those of people with low cortisol. Imagine my surprise when, after saliva testing, it was discovered that my cortisol was high. It had probably been sky high but the oral prednisone literally shut down my own adrenal production and actually helped lower it. I was placed on a regimen of vitamins and supplements to lower the cortisol. In the interest of keeping this as brief as possible, I will live it there. We moved to Lubbock and life really opened up for us all. The power of community and having loving friends did wonders for my soul. By August of this year I would say I was 85-90%. Lingering issues with lack of energy and weight were the main source of frustration. And I really wanted to the anti-depressant!

In late October of 2013, I became aware of plexus and did some research. There was 60 day money back guarantee so I decided to give it a go. To be honest, it didn’t go that well. I actually felt more tired and after 10 days had lost no weight. It was advised that I perform a simple candida spit test which I failed miserably. I was told I need to try the Probio5 to clear the candida. I ordered it, but at this point it was Thanksgiving going into Christmas and I knew my diet would be less than “clean”. I decided to wait and try again after the first of the year. And that is what I did.

Within a week of restarting the Plexus products and using the Probio5 I noticed significant changes in energy, cravings and appetite. Three weeks in I had lost 3 pounds. Not too shabby. I have now been on the products about 5 weeks and my weight loss has not been great, but my energy has been amazing. My endurance has been amazing. For the first time in 6 years I am able to exercise 5 times a week without feeling like I got hit by a truck. I have given up a diet coke addiction. I have one cup of half caf coffee in the morning. I don’t have a 2 pm energy slump. And my husband has told me several times that he notices changes in my body that the scale may not reflect …yet.

I can not give Plexus all the credit for my success because that would be untrue. I have been a journey to look at and treat things in my life in a “whole body” approach. I credit wonderful patient practitioners who were willing to work with me. I am so thankful for an army of thyroid patient advocates who helped me learn and understand the science of how the thyroid works in your body. I am grateful to conventional medicine throwing me a lifeline when I was in a place so dark I could not tell up from down. Most of all I am grateful to God for having my back and best interest at heart through this whole journey. I am thankful he made me the kind of person who is not content with a “band aid” but wants to solve the root issue.

So, for those who have been annoyed by the Plexus posts I want you to understand that this is important to me. This is something that has helped me achieve my hearts desire to be active and fit again. It has helped me overcome addictions to sugar and to soda. And I am thankful for the having the opportunity to share it with others.